Since last year the rate of borrowing in many eurozone economies has accelerated, stoking a housing bubble in at least a quarter of the eurozone states that portends a hard landing should money growth persist.

Amid the gloom over a slumping economy and a hard landing for corporate profits, investors may now sense that stocks may have been even more overvalued than they previously thought.

The move is being seen as a sign of the growing fears that the US economy may be heading for a hard landing, or even recession, rather than the gentle slowdown policymakers want.